


ready or not

by thefudge



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Blood and Gore, F/M, Manipulation, Power Play, Psychopath With a Crush, ost: abba- lay all your love on me (but it's that edit with the screams and witchcraft on youtube), ready or not (2019) inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27111439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefudge/pseuds/thefudge
Summary: She had actually thought the Gemini coven wanted to help a down-on-her-luck witch.Hah.
Relationships: Bonnie Bennett/Malachai "Kai" Parker
Comments: 23
Kudos: 97





	ready or not

**Author's Note:**

> i have a distinct memory of someone mentioning bonkai and ready or not (2019) being a good combo/crossover, and honestly, this isn't exactly that, but it's...my version of that? anyway, i hope you enjoy this hybrid!

Everywhere she looks, the ceiling spawns roses. The plaster petals look like sea foam, like the open mouth of the sea. On one wall, lacquered crowns of stags intertwine like latticework, making her see double. On the other wall, family crests and crossed swords and rusty-looking crossbows mirror the animal heads, multiplying them. Right above her is the chandelier, glittering like a thousand eyes. Everything seems to be a reflection, or a proliferation

The room is alive with wealth, the kind of wealth that admits no other living thing. She’ll give it her last breath. She knows it.

The magical binds on her arms and legs, not to mention the gag in her mouth, would have been evidence enough, but this old house with its antebellum veneer and polished silver is the last nail in the coffin.

Bonnie is fucked.

And she wouldn’t have been fucked if she had not, once again, trusted people to be decent.

She had actually thought the Gemini coven wanted to help a down-on-her-luck witch.

_Hah_.

As if life has not shown her, time and again, there’s only her looking out for herself.

Now she has to find a way to escape this hellhole before Joshua and his merry band come back with sacrificial knives or something equally appalling.

Well, first she has to get off the canasta-table-cum-altar. 

She’s ruminating on ways to keep herself from dying tonight when the heavy doors crack open and someone’s head pops in, startling her.

_Uh-oh._

She’s cute, as sacrifices go. The last one cried the whole time and her face was blotchy and smeared with make-up.

This one – well, you can see her face, at least.

She’s quiet, lying still. Maybe lying in wait.

Their eyes meet as he walks into the room.

She cranes her neck to look at him. Her eyes are calm and measuring, but they burn with a steady flame. She is very, _very_ angry.

Kai cheers inwardly.

It’s been a while since he’s seen outrage. Most of the witches are too desperate by this point to feel any kind of indignation.

She says something through the gag. It sounds like _who are you?_

Kai walks towards the table. She’s splayed rather nicely on the center star. Her red tank top is already soaked with sweat and she’s not wearing a bra. Kai swallows. Okay, all the other ones had bras on. This isn’t fair. How is he supposed to focus? Her breasts are right there, all perky and ready to nibble on.

There’s another muffled reaction from her. This time it sounds like _hey!_

She probably noticed he was staring. Kai forces himself to look at her face.

“You have…really green eyes,” he remarks, leaning his elbows against the edge of the table.

Kai inhales. She smells like magic on toast. _Yum_.

Bonnie Bennett slides her body away from him.

He smiles.

She keeps trying to talk through the gag.

It’s distracting.

“Look, I can’t chat for long. My family don’t know I’m here. Don’t bite my finger, okay?” He winks and reaches forward, lowering the gag.

Bonnie takes a big gulp of air.

She tries to form the words for a spell but they die on her lips. She feels the impediment, like a second gag, only stronger. She feels it connected to her wrists and ankles. _Shit_.

She bites her tongue. And stares at the guy in the suit and tie. He doesn’t look older than twenty, at most. And he’s definitely not used to wearing formal attire, because he keeps rolling his shoulders against the padding of the jacket and tugs on his tie. It’s like his parents dragged him out for prom pictures.

“Who are you?” she asks again. “I didn’t see you when they brought me in.”

He shrugs at that. “Yeah, Dad says I’m not fit for company. They only let me come up when it’s just the family. I guess I spook the guests, or something. But honestly, the twins are way creepier, don’t you think?”

Bonnie remembers a pair of blond twins smiling at her with identical gap-tooth smiles as Joshua stuck a needle in her neck.

"I can’t say you’re worse than what I’ve seen,” she admits, eyeing him warily.

He beams at her. “I’m Malachai, but they call me Kai for short.”

“Bonnie.”

“I know.”

“Right.”

She swallows. What else does he know?

"Can I call _you_ Bon for short?"

"No." 

"Aww, really?"

She rattles the locks on her arms for a moment. “My wrists hurt. Do you want to help me out?”

Kai chuckles. “Nice try, but if I did that, you’d probably escape.”

“Well, yeah. That’s the plan.”

Oh, he _likes_ her.

She’s got a bit of spunk in her.

And not the kind he shoots into his hands at night, although…he wouldn’t mind that either.

“Why do your parents think you’re not fit for company?” she asks, looking over him as if trying to gouge that part of him that’s _wrong_.

It pleases him that she can’t see it.

“Oh, you know, I tend to talk out of turn. I make them look _bad_ , I challenge their authority. I never do what they say. Classic middle child antics.”

“Did they ask you to put on a suit?”

“Yeah.”

“So…you did do what they said,” she reasons.

Kai frowns. “Well yeah, but…tonight’s my night. I rarely get to be the center of attention.”

She’s careful to keep her face neutral, but he can see the shifting suspicion in her eyes. She’s assessing him anew.

“Your night. So…are _you_ going to kill me?”

He likes that she came right out with it.

He rests his chin on his hands. “Bingo.”

Bonnie looks up at the ceiling. He can tell she’s trying to rein in her emotions. What does she look like when she’s set loose?

“How are you going to do it?”

Her voice only cracks a little.

He lifts a finger. She watches its shadow hover above her. He trails it down the length of her arm.

"Like this."

She instantly feels it.

Worse than static, a shock of emptiness. Like falling down a well, or jumping out of a plane. Tumbling out of your body and your heart rattles in your chest. Magic leaks and spurts. 

Fireworks, but nothing to celebrate. 

It only lasts a few seconds but it makes her teeth clatter.

“You’re a siphoner,” she gasps.

Kai smiles, though this time the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “What gave it away?”

She knows she should be terrified, but in this moment she’s nakedly curious. For such a long time, Grams used to tell her it was the vampire who was her natural enemy. She told her that siphoners were too rare to count. In fact, they were practically legend.

And here is one before her. A creature stuck between adolescence and manhood, perfectly normal-looking, and yet nursing the power of absolute nullity inside him.

“You can’t generate magic, but you have the power to steal it,” she rasps.

Kai leans forward. “Sucks, huh? Literally, I guess.”

She blinks. “No. That’s – that’s amazing.”

He’s not sure he heard her right.

“What?”

Her green eyes are alive with feverish excitement. “You can take someone’s power away. Do you realize how big that is?”

Big.

He likes the sound of that. Very much.

Why doesn’t everyone see it like that?

“Tell that to Mom and Dad,” he grumbles. “They think I’m an abomination. First word I learned to spell when I was six.”

Bonnie nods. “I mean, my grandmother did call your kind a deviancy of nature. But you’ve got to be really strong to go against nature, right?”

Kai smirks. “I mean, I can drain a witch in minutes, or less.”

Her excitement fades a little. She seems to remember where she is, who she’s with. She moves her arms and legs. Still trapped.

“How often do you drain a witch?” she asks.

“Once a year.”

“Once a year?” she echoes. “And the rest of the year?”

Kai tugs on his tie again. “I try to make the witch last, but…I run out in like, the first month. So I just wait for next year.”

His next victim takes everything in calmly. She must be used to high-stakes situations. Wherever she comes from, it must not be a peaceful place.

“You must drive yourself crazy with the wait,” she surmises.

“Yeah, I’m…pretty famished by the end,” he admits, eyes straying towards her breasts again.

“Why doesn’t your family give you some of their magic?”

Kai shrugs. “Probably because I wouldn’t stop. I’d gobble everything up.”

And he sees the shiver. Small, but lovely. A quiver in her magic.

And then her eyes harden.

It might not work.

It might blow up in her face.

But right now, no other option looks better. She has to place all her eggs in this really fucked-up basket.

“That wouldn’t be smart,” she says. “Gobbling everything up.”

“Why not?”

She smiles. “Think of it this way. If you drain a witch in one go, you get a big dose of magic, true, but it only lasts a month. However, if you only take a few gulps, the witch doesn’t die, and you can always get more from her when you’re empty. That way, you have an infinite supply.”

It feels like she’s explaining basic math to a child, but she sees the way his eyes light up, the way he’s considering her proposition, reading between the lines, already seeing the offer on the table.

But then he says, “You’re just doing this to save your skin.”

She blinks. “Uh, _yeah_. I don’t want to die. This way, we both get to win. If you free me, that is.”

“And what guarantee do I have that you won’t turn on me the minute I do that? How exactly do I get this _infinite supply_ you’re talking about?”

Bonnie licks her lips. Her eyes dart towards the doors. How much time do they have before Joshua returns? He needs to get her out already.

“We can do a blood pact,” she offers.

Kai raises an eyebrow. “That sounds generous, but you’re a witch. You know all the loopholes around blood pacts, I imagine.”

Okay, maybe he’s not such a child. Maybe he’s pretty crafty himself. She can work with that.

“I guess you have no guarantee, then. But your choices are, stay with your psychotic family forever or get out with me.”

Clever, very clever. Making him the victim.

But that’s not what sways him. It’s not what _would_ sway him, anyway.

He just likes her. That’s what makes all the difference. He likes this one.

For one, she talks to him like he’s a person.

It’s nice that she doesn’t realize it. How likable she is.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” she asks warily.

He reaches out and grips her wrist over the binds. Like a wound spilling blood, the magic pours into his veins. It’s always the fucking _best_.

Bonnie moans, eyes half-closed. “Ouch.”

He releases her hand. Her magic feels young, but also tried and tested. He clenches his fist.

“What was that for?” she asks, a little accusation in her voice.

“I’ll need it for the road.”

He slides his elbows away from the table’s edge. He strolls to the nearest wall and unhinges one of the axes from the wall.

Bonnie squirms.

“What are you doing?”

Kai turns towards her. He swings the battle ax over his shoulder.

“Gonna pop out for five minutes to kill my family.”

He starts walking towards the doors.

“ _Wait_.”

He glances over his shoulder.

She looks proper scared for once. “Don’t – don’t kill the little kids. Please.”

He pouts. “Fine, but only because you asked nicely.”

It’s around the third scream that Bonnie wonders just _what_ exactly she has done. _Who_ she has unleashed.

She can feel her stolen magic pulsing somewhere inside the house.

She looks up at the ceiling and tries to block the sounds. But the bloodbath rings loudly in her ears. Scream after scream.

And – she can feel his satisfaction pulsing with her magic.

He’s _free_.

Shit, maybe this wasn’t her best idea.

Her green eyes are larger than saucers as she takes him in.

Kai glances down at his blood-soaked suit. Half his face must look like the deli aisle.

He grins. “Sorry. I didn’t have time to clean up.”

He drops the ax on the floor with a thud.

“I let the little ones go,” he says in a playful sing-song, “but I’m afraid the woods around the estate are not so friendly. Hope they don’t get eaten by one of these guys.” He points to the zoo on the wall.

Bonnie rattles her magical binds. “That’s nice. Are you gonna free me now?”

Kai cocks his head to the side. Technically, he could walk up to her right now and drain her empty.

But – he _does_ want to see her naked, and he’s never been into necrophilia, to be honest. It always surprises people when he tells them that.

He flicks his hand and the magical binds give away.

At first, she’s a little numb and disoriented. Old Pops used some mean magic to keep her in place. She lifts herself on her elbows and winces. It probably doesn’t help that he already took a chunk of her magic.

Eventually, she swings her legs to the side.

And drops down.

A vertical Bonnie Bennett looks just as good as the horizontal version, he decides. Though, he does have a soft spot for the horizontal.

Her eyes shift towards the door, then back to him.

And now the game begins.

They circle each other.

Kai lifts a finger. “Before you decide to attack me, after all, and go back on our deal, you should know that there are others.”

She frowns. “Others?”

“Other witches, trapped in houses just like this one across the country.”

Bonnie parts her lips.

“Silly rabbit. You didn’t think the Gemini only operated from Portland, did you?”

Kai is pretty sure she mutters something close to “motherfuckers”.

He grins, takes a step closer. He almost towers over her. He relishes the fact that she’s tiny. Tiny and angry and cute. 

“What do you say we go find them? Something tells me you’re the type who wants to save the rest.”

Bonnie looks up at him. “Something tells me you’re the type who wants to kill the rest of his coven.”

“What can I say? I wear my heart on my sleeve… literally.” He lifts his bloody sleeve to make his point.

But she doesn't seem to appreciate the pun. “If you try anything funny –”

“ _Me_? You’re the one with the magic.”

“And you’re the one with the murderous tendencies.”

“I mean, doesn’t _everyone_ want to kill their family, secretly?” 

She almost wants to laugh.

How did she end up here, with this deranged man-child as her only ally?

It doesn’t seem right.

But her life has never been about “right”, no matter how hard she tried to follow it.

His eyes keep straying down, the dumbass.

She grabs the side of his jaw. It’s sticky with blood.

“Stop staring at my breasts.”

He opens his mouth to protest, but she rises on her toes and kisses him on the lips.

She tastes her own magic there, the magic she gave him, the magic that still feels hers.

It’s obvious, right away, that this is his first kiss.

He’s shy and unsure and apprehensive, but also just really, really eager to taste more. Of magic and her. It’s a good thing she’s got both.

She has to push him off, eventually. He’s too stunned to speak.

But it worked.

Judging from the mesmerized look in his eye, he’s not going to hurt her. No, she’s made sure of that.

And - okay, _fine_ , there's something kind of appealing about being his first and having that kind of power over him. 

She pats his cheek.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Kai nods eagerly, puppy dog wagging his tail.

Yeah, she could get used to that. 

“Oh, and grab that ax on your way out, will you?” she calls over her shoulder.


End file.
